Rippling Water
by Eyrial
Summary: On Hiatus, sorry Hermione and Blaise have left school and are happy, but an unwelcome visitor starts making waves and puts a strain on their relationship. Will they still be together at the end of her visit? Sequel to Secrets, Silence and Solitude
1. The Calm Before A Storm

There was a knock on my door and I lazily flicked my wand and opened it, I only expected and inter departmental note to fly into the room and land on my desk so did not bother to look up. The scent of perfume wafted past my nose and I looked up with a jerk, turning my head to face the door, sure enough in the doorway stood my mother. She was 65 years old, nearing middle age for a witch, but she looked on older than 30. I had not heard from her in the five years it had been since I had graduated from Hogwarts, she had never liked me as she always viewed me as weak for not supporting Voldemort, a muggle born girlfriend had been the last straw.

"Well aren't you going to invite me in?" She asked, slightly indignant at my lack of speech, I had lost the ability in my surprise. Before I could get over my shock and form a coherent sentence she sat down on the only other chair in the room, a small uncomfortable wooden one that was normally buried under paperwork, said paper work had magically transferred to my already over flowing desk. I smiled to myself as I imagined Hermione's reaction to my desk, she was always neat and tidy, she would have had it organised and colour coded with in a few seconds of entering my cramped office. A slight cough bought me back to reality with more than just a little bump, "Well" She said expectantly "Are you going to greet you mother Blaise? Where are your manners?"

"Err Hi."

"Is that all you can manage? No inquiry as to my health or even a formal greeting such as good afternoon rather than this casual 'Hi' business. I'm your mother, have some respect boy."

Within seconds I became the quivering boy of my youth. Even then I rarely saw my mother as she was always with her latest rich and conveniently 'ill' husband, but when I saw her she instilled fear in me with her harsh punishments. Children were seen but not heard, I was not to play outside for I would dirty my expensive clothes, and she was mother never mum because that was 'vulgar'. The endless rules and punishments reduced me to a meek boy who hid in his room and read, I was passionate about many things but I kept them buried away, I was bullied at school by the other boys and at home by my mother and her drunken friends. It was only five years ago that anyone broke through that shy outer shell and let my true personality free. I was a different man thanks to Hermione, I shook my head as if to clear it, determined not to close myself of because of my mother's presence.

"Why are you here? I thought I had been disowned."

"Nonsense you're my only child why would I do that, don't lie, you are an evil boy I raised you and this is how you repay me." She had a convenient memory.

"What do you want?" I demanded; I was angry because she had to have a reason.

"Can't a mother visit her only child, her dear boy with out a reason?"

"Yes they can, but that's not your style. Has the ministry finally managed to make the connection between your riches and the tragic deaths of how many is it now? 12 husbands, or do you still pay them sufficient money to keep them quiet?"

"Alright then, I may be in need of somewhere to stay, I have lost many friends in high places due to that damned war. Since they are in Azkaban I have lost my influence and well, the ministry has taken all my money and property."

"How long for?"

"Only a couple of months."  
"Well I'll have to ask Hermione."

"Oh are you still dating that mudblood?"

"Yes mother I love her, and don't call her that!" I said somewhat stiffly.

"Well her opinion doesn't matter anyway; I'll just get my things. Thing bring my things!" A small house elf appeared dragging a trolley of five trunks that had evidently been shrunk to make it easier. Great, I thought, not only do we have to put up with my discriminative, rude mother for a couple of months; she has a house elf. Hermione is going to love this.

* * *

I came home and as usual Blaise wasn't home yet so I went for a walk, we lived in a fairly small cottage on the Yorkshire moors. It was far from anywhere as we could apparate or floo to get to work or to visit friends, it was small at the moment with only a kitchen, dining room, living room, a master bedroom, a bathroom and a tiny spare room that could fit a bed and wardrobe if needed. Blaise had a small studio at the bottom of the garden but we could always add more rooms with magic if we needed to expand. I fed Crookshanks and took our puppy out with me, she was a lively border collie but she kept well clear of Crookshanks as when we first brought her home she had bounded up to Crookshanks only to be greeted with a vicious swipe to the nose. They kept well clear of each other and it suited them both.

I climbed over the hill by our house and was greeted with a view of the surrounding country side, mile upon mile of purple moor. I set out along my favourite walk, it led to the top of a hill which gave an even better view, Blaise liked to draw there and I liked to think. I let Art of the lead, and she raced ahead knowing instinctively where we were going as it was a path I took her along regularly. We had named her Art after Artemisia Lufkin the first female minister for magic. It was shortened to Art because border collies are traditionally used as sheepdogs so often have one syllable names to make the easier to call, Artemisia is a bit if a mouthful, and well of course art is one of Blaise's favourite things.

When I reached the top of the hill the wind was very strong but I did not mind, I lay back on the side of the hill and looked out at the moors. I had always loved the countryside, the grounds had been one of my favourite things about Hogwarts, and being up here was bliss. If like then I had had a stressful day at work all I had to do was come up here and all the worries of the day were gone. Blaise and I were lucky, we were both intelligent and had got jobs straight after leaving, Blaise worked for the ministry and I made potions for St Mungo's. We didn't have to struggle for money and at 24 we still only had very low down jobs but we would progress to higher levels over the years. We both loved what we did; Blaise even had some time to paint magic portraits which gave us a little extra income for small luxuries. We were altogether very happy.

I smiled as I remembered how much he had changed since I had met him, when we had first met on the train he had looked so happy just to be able to escape for a few hours. He had been lost in a book and had barely noticed me but then our friendship had begun. He had no friends so was shy at first but he soon opened up, he had rapidly transformed from a timid boy who had spent the whole of his life bullied by others to the happy, laughing, gentle, kind man I had fallen in love with. He had even won round my friends who managed to look past the fact he was a Slytherin and found who I saw. He was good friends with Harry and Neville nowadays, Ron still resented him slightly but he was now very happy with Parvati, they had got together after they found Lavender and Seamus kissing. Harry and Ginny had jus got engaged and we expected Neville to propose to Luna very soon. Finally I grew cold and walked back along the path to home, I noticed the light was on and happily rushed home to meet Blaise who was back from work early.

* * *

**A/N: Hi, it's been a while but here is the promised sequel to Secrets, Silence and Solitude! I hope you like it. I'm not sure if I like the title, tell me what you think and if you have any better suggestions. Thanks.**


	2. Ripples Across the Surface

As we prepared to leave my mother took one last look around my small office and sniffed. "By your age your grandfather was practically the Italian minister for magic, that was when things were run properly, none of this equality nonsense. Look where your muggle sympathies have got you Blaise." She took one last disdainful look around at my office with its piles of paperwork spilling over my desk and the painting of Hermione I did in 7th yr, and said with contempt. "You should be ashamed of yourself; your grandfather would be spinning in his grave." With that she swept out of the office, with the house elf hurrying behind her. I shut the door and followed her, it was not long before I caught up as she did not know the way, she did not ask for help only looked expectantly with her nose in the air.

Indignantly I thought to myself, who was she to get all high and mighty when the only thing she did was socialise with other like minded pureblood fanatics, living off the money her father and multiple husbands had bequeathed to her. She did not even know who my father was, that's why I took her name not his, she didn't know it. Lets just say some of my mothers relationships overlapped a little, the poor besotted fools she called husbands were generally too 'ill' to notice her eying up her next candidates. She wasn't faithful to them even when they were new and exciting, it's a miracle I was the only child she had, for both her and her potential offspring. My mother was a skilful Legilimens, as were many of the Dark Lord's followers, and she had used it many times on me to see if I deserved one of the punishments she loved to give. Thankfully at that moment her thoughts were elsewhere and therefore she did not hear the bitter hatred in my thoughts, she was my mother and I loved her unconditionally but loathed her at the same time.

We reached the main hall and made our way to the nearest fireplace, it was the end of the day and as it was a Friday there was a long queue of tired looking witches and wizards. My mother swept passed all of them with an air of superiority and took a pinch of floo powder as if it was filthy and she couldn't bring herself to touch it and dropped it into the fire. Again she turned to look at me expectantly and I told her the name of her cottage, with in seconds she was gone without so much as a backwards glance. I turned and apologised to all the disgruntled members of the queue that we had just jumped then quickly followed my mother.

When I arrived, Hermione was out and so was Art so I assumed she had taken her for a walk. I said a quiet thank you as I knew my mother hated any non conventional familiars, particularly of the owner of said familiar was her son. With the same expression as she had worn as she looked around my office, my mother walked from room to room. She looked offended at the size of the room she had to stay in "Is this it?" she asked rather rudely, I looked at the meagre room we had to offer and sighed. There was no way she would be willing to sleep here, particularly as it was covered in ginger fur, the bed being Crookshanks' favourite place to sleep when he wished to be left alone. There was just enough room in the bed for me and Hermione to share if worst came to worst, it would only be for a few months I suppose. I sighed again and led her to our room, "Will this do?" I asked in a tired voice. She surveyed the spotless room critically and finally she replied "I suppose it will have to do." Very annoyed now, I said in a cold voice "Well I'll leave you to unpack" and left the room. I got downstairs and made myself a cup of coffee, I had jus sat down when Hermione came bounding in, she rushed up to greet me and before I could warn her she said an enthusiastic hello and began kissing me.

Happily I rushed into the house, cheered up by my walk and the fact that I had the whole weekend to relax and very pleased that Blaise was home early. I saw him take a sip of his usual cup of afternoon coffee, Blaise had no less than nine cops of coffee in a day to survive, he put it on the table and collapsed onto the sofa. I grinned as I imagined the surprise he would get when I sat on his lap and began to kiss him. He had had a hard day, just like me, I could tell. A walk had been all I needed to wind down and forget about the stresses of the day, now I would take particular pleasure in reducing Blaise's anxiety levels. I muttered a rushed greeting and with in seconds was on his lap running my hands through his hair and passionately pressing his lips against my own. I did not get the enthusiastic reply I hoped for and was jus about to break off and ask what was wrong when I heard I shriek "Just what do you think you are doing!?" I jumped and turned in the direction of the voice. On the stairs was a woman whose face I had seen in The Daily Prophet on countless occasions, that of Valentina Zabini. I had known that eventually I would meet her, I also knew that she was extremely prejudiced and was very keen to make a good impression, this was not a good start. I quickly tried to rectify my mistake by apologising "Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were here, your visit was unexpected." Blaise shot me an apologetic look and muttered under his breath so that his mother couldn't hear "Sorry I tried to warn you."

"Who asked you to speak mudblood? To be honest I expected not better of you but Blaise, do you have no self respect? Firstly you are living with this filth, and now you are carrying on with her as if I didn't exist. Did I teach you nothing? Do you have no humility?"

"Sorry mother." He said quietly.

"Speak up boy, do you have an explanation for your abominable conduct?" Blaise was silent and looked at the floor, like a child being reprimanded.

"Well?" she demanded "Do you have nothing to say for yourself?" By this point I decided it was time for me to speak up. "I'm very sorry Ms. Zabini, it wasn't Blaise' fault it was mine, I--" she interrupted before I had time to finish my explanation.

"How dare you speak to me in such an insolent manner, you should respect those better than you, you are nothing but a mudblood who has bewitched my son. I will be damned if I put up with it any longer, Blaise this must end here, right now." I was furious but before I could say anything she swept upstairs again leaving me and Blaise in awkward silence.

I remained quiet for a few minutes while the anger subsided enough for me to regain the power of speech. Blaise was still looking at the floor meekly but he was shaking, he looked up and I saw that anger was the reason for his trembling, his eyes were full of it. He spoke and broke the silence, his voice too was full of the same fury that I felt, except his was laced with sadness and bitterness "She's in trouble and I could hardly refuse to help her. It's only temporary no longer than a couple of months, and she will ignore you after a while, after she sees you are not going to leave me. You aren't going to leave me are you?" The anger immediately subsided as I saw the worry in his eyes.

"No of course I wont Blaise, I would never do that."

"I just thought you might not be able to cope with her, she's so cruel and what you just saw was only the half of it."

"Blaise, I love you, your mother is not going to change that." I sat down next to him and gave his hand a squeeze, I knew what his childhood had been like and I knew what his silence meant. He remembering it all, a pained look flashed across his face and I snuggled against his shoulder. We stayed like that for a few minutes, comfortable in each other's company with no need to move. Finally I turned my head to his and whispered in his ear "Be strong, you can do it Blaise." he looked in to my eyes and smiled.

"I won't let her break us up Hermione."

"I know."


	3. Suprises

Dinner that evening was awkward; we sat in silence trying to ignore the haughty glances my mother was shooting at us, trying to forget the damage she had already caused. She had been here for about two hours and already she was ruining everything, tomorrow was Hermione's birthday and I had a really romantic day planned, but it was unlikely to be as nice as I had hoped with my mother there. I scowled at my plate as I cut through the meat viciously, too late I realised my mistake and my mother's cold, harsh voice broke the silence. "Blaise! What happened to your manners? I we were at home you would not be allowed dinner for that, clearly you have been associating with filth for too long, you are becoming nothing better than them despite your impeccable blood." Hermione bristled visibly but I calmed the moment with a muttered apology, I didn't speak any louder because my voice was trembling with anger.

I breathed in deeply and carried on eating, pretending that my mother wasn't looking daggers at Hermione. I ate hurriedly, all I wanted was to get away from the table and run through my plans for tomorrow, I wanted everything to be perfect despite the presence of my mother. I complemented Hermione's cooking as I was accustomed to do, wincing at the look on her face as my mother uttered the snort of derision and said in a stage whisper to herself "Wouldn't touch it with a broomstick, I will get Thing to make me something that isn't poisoned by mudbloods." Hermione acted like she hadn't heard properly and merely asked in a casual voice "Who or what is thing?" I groaned as I realised I had forgotten about the house elf, I knew my mother wasn't going to say anything so I quietly said "Thing is my mother's house elf." I dragged my eyes away from the worn floorboards and looked into Hermione's, they were angry but her face and voice were calm. She was trying so hard to put up with her just for me, "While she is in my house Thing as you call her will have _decent_ living conditions and a _proper _name."

"Of course she will love, don't worry I'll see to it that she has everything she needs to make her comfortable." With that I quickly left the room in search of a blanket and cushion to give to Thing, she could choose where to sleep herself.

Exhausted by the long week of work and the arrival of my mother, I went upstairs and checked through all my arrangements for the next day before collapsing onto the tiny bed that was now mine and Hermione's. I lay in the dark for a while, struggling to cope with the memories my mothers reappearance had brought to the surface. Hermione came in and found me as rigid as a board with my hands balled into fists, I was clenching them so tight my nails were digging into my skin and my knuckles we were white. She climbed into the narrow bed beside me and I relaxed enough to pull her towards me and hold her to my chest. I buried my face and nose into her hair, breathing in her scent, this combined with the warmth finally served to calm me down. Soon she was asleep with her head on my chest I lay flat on my back while she slept peacefully, her deep hypnotic breathing was the only sound in the room. Butterflies began to form as I thought of what the next day would bring, she meant so much to me and all I wanted was to make her happy. A sliver of moonlight illuminated her face as she slept, and before I closed my eyes and let myself succumb to the fatigue that was now pulling at my eyelids I whispered to her.

"Thank you, for everything you have done and everything you will do, you have been my all for so long and pulled me through when my life wasn't worth living. I know she hurts you yet you still put up with my mother for me. Thank you, I love you so much." With that I slipped into unconsciousness full of nervous apprehension for the day ahead.

I was woken up early by Blaise wishing me a happy birthday and giving me a long good morning kiss, I grinned as a tray floated along beside him, laden with breakfast for the both of us. He wriggled in beside me and the single candle on a small cake flickered into light, I laughed he told me to make a wish. After I blew out the candle we cut the small cake in half and had our traditional birthday breakfast, it wasn't healthy but it was delicious. A soon as we had finished Blaise sent the tray back downstairs with a flick of his wand, he turned to me with a playfully grin on his face "Well then up you get, we've got a busy day ahead, off you go and get ready." Intrigued I asked "Where are we going?"

"That is for me to know and you to find out, now hop to it!"

I scrambled out of bed and was ready within half an hour; I found Blaise downstairs explaining to his mother that we were going out for the day and that we would not be back until late in the evening, she could explore by herself. We left the house and burst out laughing at the memory of the indignant expression on her face I turned to look at him again and said "You have to tell me where we're going now or we'll never get there."

"The Leaky Cauldron is all you need to know, trust me it wont reveal anything"

We arrived and to my surprise instead of going into Diagon Alley we left the pub and went into the heart of muggle London. I was incredibly curious by now but took his hand and trusted him to lead me, we walked for fifteen minutes before I finally realised where he was taking me, The British Library. It was a huge building with a collection of 25 million books and 150 million items in total; I had always wanted to go. Jokingly Blaise said "Well this is one library you will never read the whole of."

We went in while I was still looking around me with awe, he took my hand and lead me straight to the manuscripts room. I gasped as I saw a huge room full of original copies of books by hundreds of authors, many of them were the handwritten drafts that had been sent to the publishers. I walked past all the glass shelves with excitement, not wanting to miss a single thing; I was overawed by the collection. There were books by William Blake, Leonardo Da Vinci, Lewis Carroll and even something that had been handwritten by Shakespeare himself. They had manuscripts of music written by Beethoven and Mozart, all by their own hand, I could not believe I was amongst the works of so many. Finally Blaise took my by the hand and led me to a case where there was Tess of the D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, Persuasion by Jane Austen, poetry by John Milton and best of all Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. The small book was open to reveal a page covered in a neat, elegant script, there were very few corrections.

Finally I was ready to leave and once again Blaise took me by the hand, we had a picnic lunch in St James's park and spent the afternoon on a boat journey along the river. We went out to eat at a posh restaurant; Blaise had decided to spend the whole day doing muggle things. We walked out into the dark street and Blaise took me to stand under the light of a street lamp, he pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to me. It was a copy of Jane Eyre open onto the page where Mr Rochester proposed, I had just reached the lines_ "My bride is here," he said, again drawing me to him, "because my equal is here, and my likeness. Jane, will you marry me?" _When I felt a tug the book glowed blue, the book was a portkey that had taken us to our special place on top of the hill. The moon shone brightly and bathed the moors on a silver light, it was a cloudless night and hundreds of stars where accentuated against the perfect black of the sky. Slowly Blaise lowered himself on one knee and said "You are my equal and my likeness, I can't imagine my life without you. Hermione, will you marry me?"

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**A/N: Hey apologising as usual, today it's for the quality of Blaise's half of the chapter, it was a real struggle to write because I the main event happens in Hermione's and his is just the build up. It's why it has taken me two weeks to update, but I have a plan for the next two chapters so they shouldn't be so much of a problem, just bear with me.**


	4. Yes

"You are my equal and my likeness, I can't imagine my life without you. Hermione, will you marry me?" I held my breath as I watched her face in the moonlight, the silver light was reflected her eyes as I desperately tried to read them. I knew her well but my nerves had overpowered me and I could understand nothing of the thoughts hidden in the caramel depths. Slowly she recovered from the shock and her small pink lips spread into a smile that shone from every part of her face which was ghostly pale in the night "Yes, yes yes yes of course I will" I pulled open the small black box and revealed the engagement ring I had spent days searching for; I had wanted something that was perfect, something that would suit her and she would like. Most of all I wanted something that showed her just how much I loved her. It was a small silver band with a small, delicate, midnight blue, star sapphire as the central gem, diamonds were traditional but the colour meant a lot to us, and we had never been a traditional couple. The round sapphire was flanked by two pear shaped diamonds, Hermione gave a satisfactory gasp as I presented it two her, the moon shining overhead had illuminated the asterism. I slipped it on her finger and immediately pulled her petite form to my own, I whirled her round laughing with delight, I put her down and admired the ring on her finger, I was right, it suited her perfectly then I pulled her close once more and closed my mouth around hers. We stood there for several minutes forgetting everything, my mother, the cold September air, the beauty of our surroundings, everything but each other.

Gradually we pulled apart and began to make our way home; hand in hand and grinning, every so often turning to catch each others eye and beaming. Hermione began to shiver and I quickly took off my cloak and put it around her shoulders, we both knew all we needed was to say a spell but we did not care. I put my arm around her shoulders and she nestled into my side as we walked, soon our cottage came into view. The lights were on which was a surprise as I had not expected my mother to be awake, wincing I realised that by now she was probably drunk, it would not be a good way to end what had up until now been a magical day. Anxiously Hermione turned to me and asked "What are we going to say to your mother? Should we save telling her until tommorrow?"

"No, we have nothing to hide; she can't say anything that will change my mind; she can just deal with it."

"Yeah your right, we'll tell her today."

We drew up to the door and stepped into the room, my mother was not alone, the room was full of her old friends who were like minded pureblood fanatics. They all stank of alcohol, empty fire whiskey bottles were littered around the room and there was a pile of suit cases in the centre. "What on earth do you think you're doing?" I demanded, I was angry but I did not raise my voice, not yet anyway. My mother slurred her reply "I am not living under the same roof as that filth" gesturing to Hermione "I merely enlisted the help of some friends; I am not having you drag the Zabini name through filth with her." The horror of her words sank in and I began to shake uncontrollably as the resentment I felt towards her came back and hit me like a tidal wave, leaving me reeling from the pure anger that now had complete control. She was laughing in defiance as I was rendered speechless, taking my silence for assent, she crowed with triumph. "See" she said turning to her friends "I knew all it would take was a little persuading, he's a pureblood at heart and he will easily grow out of this little slut." Those last words were the last straw and I snapped, unleashing all the feelings that were taking over me. "ALL RIGHT ALL OF YOU GET OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!!!"

* * *

I stood in silent disbelief as I saw my trunks packed and stacked in the centre of the room, Valentina Zabini stood over them exultant, crowing with success. Her eyes were glittering in her inebriated state; although she was drunk she still remained in perfect control of her movement. The only thing that gave her away was the stench of her breath and slightly slurred speech, that and the bottles that were scattered about the room. Blaise's burst of anger shocked every one, many of the people in the room were Deatheaters that had escaped Azkaban but they looked at Blaise with fear. Soon the room was empty, the only remaining people were me, Blaise and Valentina, the anger was still radiating off him in waves. "While you are under my roof you have no say, you do not invite those people in EVER again, you are here because you have no where else to go. You may be my mother but do not think that does not mean I will not throw you out of my house, you forfeited every right to be concerned about my well being when you paraded me in front of those vile, drunken people you call friends."

"I am your mother, I love you." She protested and Blaise let out a snort of derision.

"Love? You don't know the meaning of the word. Love is what I feel towards Hermione, she is going no where." He slipped his arms round my waist possessively and maintained his strong grip, "We are engaged." He lifted up my arm and showed her the ring around the fourth finger of my left hand. She screamed with rage "BLAISE ZABINI I WILL NOT LET YOU MARRY THAT FILTH!!!!" Blaise was shaking with anger as he tightened his grip round my waist, his arms encircling me like a straight jacket, I would not have been able to free myself even I had wanted to. "Who I marry is not up to you mother, I love her and I do not care what you say about it. It is my decision; I refuse to let you take away the most important thing in my life, the one who first showed me true happiness. I never had that at home, I was NEVER happy, you made my life hell and the moment you can find somewhere else to live you are leaving this house and I never want you to darken my doorstep again."

She hissed at me "I hope you're happy, alienating a poor mother from her only child, you little whore."

With that Blaise flicked his wand and all my things raced off to their original places, he grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me upstairs. We quickly changed and climbed into our bed, I lay there with my head on his chest and him stroking my hair, just as we had done the day we both confessed to each other. Then he murmured "Hermione, I am so sorry, I would have thrown her out for what she has just done but I can't. She is the only family I have, but I will not let her win, I love you and she is not going to change that."

"Hush" I said "It's ok, I love you too, lets not dwell it now. I want to thank you for what has been a truly wonderful day Blaise, and we are going to get married! Think of that."

"You're right of course, you little know-it-all." What had once been and insult had become his affectionate nickname for me and I loved it. He let out a quiet laugh and I looked up into his midnight blue eyes, they were the exact colour of the sapphire on my engagement ring. He smiled and carried on stroking my hair, I wriggled closer and we lay like that for hours. We were content, all we needed was each other, his strong presence reassured me and my calm one soothed him. We fell asleep in the same position, each dreaming of each other, what ever the future brought we would face it, and Blaise's mother, together.

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**A/N: Hi I don't know if you've noticed but I have a depressingly low amount of reviews, I know a lot of you didn't know I had started a sequel and I should have a few more readers but please (yes you have reduced me to begging) tell me what you think *Makes irresistible puppy dog eyes* **


	5. Fake

After the incident on Hermione's birthday my mother behaved impeccably for about a month. She pretended Hermione didn't exist, although this was hardly ideal it was better that constant insults and derogatory comments. The atmosphere in the house was tense; I was just waiting for my mother to regress and start to drink with her old friends, Hermione was waiting for her to let a remark about her birth, her looks or her loyalties slip. All I concentrated on was working and Hermione, we knew that we would have to wait until after Christmas for our wedding so we both threw ourselves into work to save up enough. Hermione didn't want anything big or flashy, neither did I; as usual our tastes complemented each other's perfectly.

Time and time again I took comfort from the fact that Hermione and I were so strong, it had been a long time since I had wondered why she was with me but the fear began to creep back. My mother began to drink again, a glass or so of wine here and there became a regular occurrence, for most people this was nothing to worry about but with my mother it was. Increasingly I noticed my mother was drunk even when she appeared to have only drunk a small glass of wine, I knew what this meant. She was sneaking alcohol in. After two months of quiet she began to notice Hermione again, she said little too her face but she was always muttering insults under her breath. By this time I had returned to my childhood self, the fire I had needed to stand up to her had gone, before I had taken the strength from Hermione but our relationship became strained. We were both now up to our eyeballs in work through choice, home life was becoming increasingly difficult as things began to spiral out of control. My lack of backbone to stand up to my mother made Hermione irritable and made us grow more distant, this distance meant I was not able to draw on our relationship to stand up to my mother. She got away with more and more until she had almost total control, Hermione and I had no time for each other and what little we had was spent arguing over my mother. It was tearing both of us apart.

Hermione was spending a girly weekend with Ginny as Harry had to go abroad on business; therefore I had an entire weekend alone with my mother. I came back from taking Art out for a walk, the dog had been suffering from lack of attention and the fact my mother hated her. I walked into the hall and a very strong sweet scent hit my nose, the smell of far too much perfume. My mothers laugh reached my ears, coupled with a high pitched faked cackle; I recognised both of these signs. I tentatively walked into my sitting room and found what I had been dreading, my mother sitting there with none other than Pansy Parkinson. I had never been popular at school, far from it, but the girls noticed my looks and several of them had tried to attract my attention. They were vulgar and only wished for a quick bit of fun, an escape from the serious relationships they were in, Pansy had been particularly persistent. "Ah, Blaise you're home from taking that foul animal for a walk." Said my mother, Pansy frowned disapprovingly at Art and said "Well that thing will _certainly_ have to go, I will not have filthy dogs in my house, they are pets for muggles." My mind reeled in shock and disbelief at her words, _her house? _Then I looked at my mothers smirk and realised I should have expected this, Pansy was pretty, from a family of Deatheaters, Slytherin through and through, and her personality was just like my mother's. I noticed the huge silver engagement ring on her finger, the look on her face was smug as my mother proudly announced. "Blaise, you and Pansy are going to get married." I recoiled in horror as Pansy's smile grew wider revealing magically perfect teeth, her fake blond hair looked horrible against her waxy skin, she was grinning in the triumph of finally getting revenge. I had rejected her many times at Hogwarts and now she won round my mother meaning we were engaged, she had me in her clutches where I couldn't escape.

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The weekend with Ginny had been a nice break from everything, I loved Blaise more than anything but we weren't talking, I knew what his childhood was like but I still couldn't help being hurt when he didn't stand up to her. A long and sympathetic chat with Ginny had refreshed me and I was looking forward to getting home, Blaise was my fiancée despite everything that was happening I missed him. I put the key in the lock and took a deep breath, preparing myself for the awkward evening ahead. Valentina would only be staying with us until after Christmas, then all of this would have blown over and she would be able to return to the public eye. The smell of Pansy Parkinson's perfume hit me the moment I opened the door, I cursed under my breath. We had hated each other at school and I could cope with either of the two alone but together was a different story.

I walked into the sitting room and saw her hanging off Blaise, he was grimacing and trying desperately to shrug her off, no matter how hard he tried she would not leave off. "But Blaiseykins now we are getting married you should be letting me kiss you, not pushing me off your lap like you are now." She simpered; she pouted, her lips were a vibrant shade of pink, the same shade that was smeared on Blaise's cheek. He replied stiffly "I am already engaged to Hermione, I am not going to marry you." Both Pansy and Valentina uttered violent protests simultaneously, Pansy whined about how badly Blaise was treating her and Valentina barked sharply. "You are not marrying that filthy girl, Pansy is perfect for you, she will keep the Zabini bloodline pure and strong." Then pansy turned around and caught sight of me standing in the doorway with a look of pure disgust on my face, Pansy's contorted into an evil grin. I had known she was attracted to Blaise at school and that she hated me, Blaise had hurt her and now she was getting her revenge on both of us. I turned around and raced upstairs into the tiny bedroom Blaise and I had been living in for the past few months.

Tears blurred my eyes as I angrily jabbed my wand at books and articles of clothing, watching them slam into my trunk with satisfaction, I left every single thing Blaise had ever given to me where it was. I heard his footsteps coming up the stairs hurriedly, Pansy followed not far behind. She laughed at me as I carried on with my task, "Well Blaise" she giggled "Looks like the mudblood has got her comeuppance, filthy slut was never any where near good enough for the likes of you. You're with me now, come on lets have our first kiss as an engaged couple." she slyly cast a spell meaning he could not pull away and closed in. She kissed him for a long time; raking her long fake nails, that were painted to match her lips, through Blaise's curly hair. Finally she came up for air with a ridiculous smile all over her face, Blaise's mouth was covered in the lipstick Pansy had applied so thickly. There were bright pink stains on the collar of his shirt and his top buttons had been ripped off, his tie was loose and pulled askew.

With another angry jab with my wand my trunks flew down the stairs with lightning speed, narrowly missing Pansy's face. I walked up to her and ran my nails down her face, leaving for angry red scratch marks on her left cheek. There was blood trickling from all four of the wounds I had inflicted, there were also copious amounts of the foundation she applied liberally under my fingernails. "You Bitch!!!" she shrieked, I ignored her and stalked past them down the stairs, I quickly ran outside and caught up with my things which had come to a halt and were now hovering in midair. With tears staining my face I apparated to Ginny's house, she watched bewildered and horrified as I collapsed on the floor sobbing. Throughout the whole experience Blaise had not said or done anything to stop me leaving. Absolutely nothing.

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**A/N: Hey! Well it seems like my begging and nagging has paid off, thank you so much for the reviews. Please keep giving me them, you make me ridiculously happy and I want to know what you like and dislike about this. Just checking but are there any people reading this who don't know that this is a sequel or do but just haven't read the first one. Well if that applies to you read it! It tells you a lot about the characters and there are several references to it in this (it's called Secrets, Silence and Solitude you'll find it on my profile) Thanks again, please keep reviewing!**


	6. Hatred

I watched her go and like the coward I was I let her; I did nothing to stop her, I didn't even try and explain. I had expected this ever since she said that she loved me, I just couldn't believe that I would keep her. Why would she want me, the only thing I matched her on was intelligence; I was weak, pathetic and cowardly. A beta male. I couldn't be what she deserved, strong, brave, and confident, someone like Harry. I felt sick, sick to the stomach with myself, Pansy and most of all, with my mother. I knew that from the moment she entered my life again that no good would come of it, but foolishly I let my fear control me and I let her in. Now she had done what I had always feared, the best thing in my life was gone. All because of _her. _Even now I couldn't throw her out, the words died in my throat, and I was left hating myself even more. I only had the strength for one thing; Pansy was hanging on my arm and simpering "Thank Merlin she's gone, filthy mudblood, who did she think she was? Come on Blaiseykins don't act so moody, she's gone now."

"Get of me."

"What?"

"I _said _get off me?" my voice was rising and Pansy stood dumbfounded

"You have 5 seconds to get off me and get out of my house before I throw you out."

"B-b-but Blaise, we're getting married."

"I am NOT marrying you, now get out." She still didn't move I put my hand on her shoulder and roughly pushed her forward towards the door, I pulled it open, dragged her out, shut the door while and disapparated. I needed to find Hermione and explain what had happened, I couldn't let her leave me like this, not when she had got it all wrong.

I didn't know exactly where she had gone but I could guess, I would try Ginny's first as it was most likely, if not I would go to her parents house and maybe then try Luna's. I concentrated on Ginny's house, being careful not to splinch because I was distracted, I arrived all in one piece and found Ginny sitting on the sofa looking angry.

"What do you want?" she demanded

"I need to talk to Hermione."

"I don't think she wants to talk to you."

"Look please can you tell me where she is; I need to explain something to her."

"Wipe the lipstick of you face first." She spat, I cursed my stupidity and hastily wiped it off "You also reek of Pansy's perfume."

"Look, please just tell me where she is."

"Hiding from you, now I think you should go."

"Ginny please."

"I will tell her you've come, now go"

"But."

"Just go Blaise."

I had no choice as by now she got her wand out and her eyes were flashing, a sign that she was about to use her infamous bat bogey hex. Dejectedly disapparated and found myself back home, our home, she had been gone for an hour and already the house felt cold and empty. I went up to the tiny spare room; it looked even smaller now that Hermione's things had gone. I lay on our bed, my bed, she didn't sleep here anymore. I stared up at the ceiling, at the damp patch I had been planning to remove; I didn't see the point anymore. The walls seemed to have closed in, suddenly I was overwhelmed with claustrophobia, and I struggled to breathe in my fear. Then I realise I wasn't panicking because of the size of the room or the distance between the walls, I was panicking because she was gone, I didn't see why she would ever come back.

Finally I got up off the floor and composed myself, I caught sight of Ginny's face as I turned to look at her, when she saw I was calm she immediately asked.

"What happened? What's wrong? What did he do?" I silenced her onslaught of questions and told her everything, how I came home to find her all over him, how they were engaged. How he was going to marry her, I was as good as forgotten.

"I should have known that my blood wasn't good enough for him." I finished bitterly.

"That's rubbish Hermione, if that even matters to him after six years then be thankful that you are shot of him before it's too late."

"Ginny it _is _too late, it's been too late for six years, I love him Gin' and I don't see how that's ever going to change. Oh Merlin what do I do?"

"Any man who picks Pansy Parkinson over you is a fool, and Blaise Zabini has just made the biggest mistake of life, forget him 'Mione. Trust me you'll be better for it."

"I think I might go clean up, I'm a mess and I need to clear my head, Merlin I love him so much but I hate him for what he's done."

While I was in the bathroom I hear the unmistakeable crack of someone apparating, I froze trying desperately to hear who it was and what they were saying. Even from hear I could recognize his voice although I couldn't distinguish anything he was saying, silently I prayed that he would go. I couldn't see him yet, I would break down in front of him, I could just see Pansy laughing with delight as he told her what I had done. She would love to know that she was marrying the man that Hermione Granger loved, she had always hated me and knowing that she had caused me pain would have been the icing on the cake. When I was sure he had gone I came out.

"What did he say?"

"That he needed to explain, and that he needed to talk to you."

"What's there to say that I don't already know, he's marrying Pansy and wants nothing more to do with me. He probably only wanted to be sure I wasn't coming back. Well he needn't worry, I'll leave the pair of them in their little love nest." Tears had begun to leak out of my eyes again and Ginny looked on sympathetically.

"It'll get better 'Mione, I promise."

"I know but why does it have to be so hard?"

"It was the same with Harry when he left me to fight Voldemort, I knew he had to do it but I never really got over him."

"But Ginny he came back, he wasn't living with some other woman, he was saving wizard kind from the most evil person to walk this Earth."

"Well I knew I was being stupid but, he was with you."

"Oh Gin' you know that Harry's like a brother to me."

"I know but I couldn't help it, never mind that was years ago now."

"Yeah, I'm tired do you mind of I go to bed."

"No it's fine, you're welcome to stay as long as you like, Harry's back in two weeks. You have no choice; you are staying here at least until after Christmas, you are not spending it alone."

"Thanks, it means a lot."

I trailed off to my room and lay on the bed, it felt strange sleeping alone, but I steeled myself. Life was going to be lonely from now on, I had better get used to it, I felt the tears coming so I shut my eyes and buried my face into the pillow. All I could see with or without my eyes closed was Blaise and Pansy together, it was a long time before I finally got to sleep.

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**A/N: Sorry it's been a looong time but I honestly wrote this last week and forgot to post (the week before I was preoccupied with a little oneshot) and I spent the WHOLE of this week dissapointed because I didn't get any reviews for this when I had forgotten to post it!!!! I am very dumb, sorry. **


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